Atlantic City’s Bader Field is one step closer to a $2.7 billion plan that includes a racetrack

Atlantic City is moving forward with a $2.7 billion plan for its long-closed Bader Field that would include a Formula 1 specification raceway, hundreds of condominiums, and commercial space.

Mayor Marty Small Sr. on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with developer DEEM Enterprises that marks a step forward in the proposed redevelopment of the historic 143-acre site. Atlantic City City Council on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution approving the execution of the memorandum.

As part of the memorandum, DEEM Enterprises has exclusivity for six months to “do their due diligence on the Bader Field site,” Small said in a statement. After that, if the developer finds it is able to deliver on its plan, the city and developer would reach an official redevelopment agreement. Atlantic City would get $115 million as part of the deal, including up to $15 million toward building a new recreation center.

In Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Small described the plan as an “auto enthusiast development.” The plan includes designs for a 2.4-mile Formula 1 specification motor course that would allow drivers with high-performance vehicles, such as Lamborghinis or Ferraris, to “drive them at high but safe speeds,” according to the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce. The course would be “for residential use,” Small’s office said.

“You can’t come off the street and just drive your own car around, but rather you would need to be a member or guest of a member and be certified by professional instructors,” DEEM Enterprises representative Michael Binder told the chamber last year.

Binder added that the racetrack would not result in “discernible noise” that would disturb residents near the development.

Officially known as “Renaissance at Bader Field,” the plan would also include 4,000 housing units, luxury condos, shopping centers, and restaurants, many with solar panels on their roofs. The project could take six to nine years to complete, and result in the creation of 1,200 to 1,500 permanent jobs, Binder said last year.

The memorandum advancing DEEM Enterprises’ plan was approved over another proposal by Philadelphia-based developer Bart Blatstein. Known as Casa Mar, that $3 billion plan would have included 10,000 housing units, 400,000 square feet of retail and office space, and 20 acres of walking trails and public recreational space.

Blatstein announced that plan in a news conference in November. Small seemed to reference Blatstein’s proposal Thursday, but did not directly name the developer, who also owns the Showboat Resort.

“This is another message to anyone who wants to do business here. You come to the 10 elected officials, that’s the mayor and nine City Council members,” Small said, according to the Press of Atlantic City. “If you don’t follow that process, you won’t be entertained. We don’t go to the media with projects. You come respect home rule and the state of New Jersey.”

Opened in 1910, Bader Field served as an operating airport in Atlantic City for 96 years before closing in 2006. It was the first municipal airport in the country’s history, and is considered the place where the term “air-port” was coined, according to the FAA.